Firsts
by HATBC
Summary: Summary: Harm and Mac’s son experiences snow for the first time.


**Firsts **

The idea for this came about when two of my friends were talking about all the snow they were getting this January in England.

Summary: Harm and Mac's son experiences snow for the first time.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Did you seriously think I owned the show? Well, I wish I did.

All mistakes, typos and errors are mine and mine alone – including the blunders with Harm and Mac's jobs.

*******

January 31, 2009  
Rabb Residence

London, England

1335 Local

*** ***

Three-year old Maxwell just woke up from his nap. He crawled out of bed and looked out the window. "Oh!" he gasped at the scene he saw. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" he began running through the house in a pursuit to find his mother. "Momma?" Max stopped when he reached his mother and father's office. The door was slightly open and he could hear his mom talking. He was about to go inside, but then he remembered what his daddy told him. – The office is not a playroom and there are very important papers in there that he mustn't touch. He gently pushed the door open and knocked on the wooden frame. "Mommy?"

Being a civilian legal specialist for the Force Judge Advocate was a busy job, but it certainly was the best for her, Mac reasoned. The hours were much more regular, she could work from home most of the time which meant more time to spend with her son, no TAD assignments, she was still able to work with Harm at times, and she was able to pick out her wardrobe all the way from her shoes to her jewelry.

Mac looked up from the folder on her desk and saw her son smile at her. She smiled back at him. Max certainly took after Harm. He had dark hair, blue eyes and he was even lucky enough to inherit Harm's smile. "Hi, sweetie," she said softly. "Come and sit with me." Mac then returned her attention to her telephone call. "Commander Kiefer? Are you still there? ---- I'm sorry, but I have to cut this conversation short. Can I call you back tonight? ---- Great. Thanks. --- Uh-huh. Bye."

Maxwell, clad in his airplane pajamas, walked over to Mac and climbed up on her lap. "I woke up from my nap!" he exclaimed.

"I can see that," Mac smiled.

"Mommy, I think the clouds are hurt!" He blurted out quickly.

She ran her fingers through her son's hair. "What makes you think that?" She asked, clearly confused.

"They're falling down! I sawed them on the grass. There's a lot."

"I don't think the clouds are falling, honey."

"Yes, they are, Mommy. Look!"

"Okay," Mac spun the chair around and rolled it over to the window. Then, she opened the window blinds. "Wow," she gasped at the sight of two or three inches of snow on the ground.

"See, Mommy, I tolds you so."

"The clouds aren't hurt," she explained. "It's snow."

"What's that?"

"Well, I don't really know how to explain it." Mac thought about it for a minute. "Well, when it gets really cold, the rain turns into snow."

"How come I never saw it before?"

"It doesn't snow in London often."

"You saw snow before?"

Mac nodded. "Yes. You know how Uncle Bud and Aunt Harriet and your cousins live in Washington, DC?"

Max nodded. "Yep."

"Well, that's were Daddy and I used to live and in the winter it snows there."

His eyes lit up. "Really?"

**** ***

Office of the Force Judge Advocate

London, England

1339

*** ***

Petty Office Laura Anderson knocked the door to her CO's office. Upon hearing the "Enter!" come from the other side, she pushed the door open, stepped into the office and stood at attention.

"At ease, Petty Officer," Harm said as he looked up from the paperwork on his desk. "What can I do for you?" he asked with a small smile.

Laura returned the smile. "Mrs. Rabb faxed these over earlier today. They have to do with the Tyler case," she said as she handed him the file.

"Thanks. I've been waiting for these."

"No problem, sir." Laura glanced out the window behind Harm. "It's really coming down out there, isn't, sir?"

Harm turned around and looked out the window. "You think so? It's only a few inches."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"I don't know what winters are like in America, but here in London, where it hardly snows, a few inches is a lot. I mean think about, in the past three and a half years you were here do you ever recall it snowing?"

Harm thought back on the past few years. "No, I don't."

"You know, I was just listening to the news report during lunch, and they said schools are already closing for tomorrow."

"Oh?"

Laura looked at down at the family pictures on Harm's desk. "Sir, if you don't mind, I will be more than happy to rearrange your schedule so you can go home and play in the snow or maybe even build a snowman with your son."

Harm stood up from his chair and stared out the window. "You know what?" he said as he turned back around to face Laura. "I'll take you up on that offer. I'm going home early."

She smiled. "Good for you, sir."

*** ***

Rabb Residence

1405 Local

*** ***

"Mommy, is snow wet?"

"Yes, Max."

"Mommy, why is the snow white?"

"I'm not sure, sweetie."

"Mommy, why does it snow?"

"Uh, well,…"

"Mommy, is snow cold?"

"Yes."

As Mac went to remove the tray of double chocolate chip cookies from the oven, the front door opened and Harm stepped inside.

At the sound of hearing the door open, Max ran to the foyer to greet his father. "Daddy!" he exclaimed. "Mommy said it's snowing!"

Harm stomped the remaining snow off of his shoes. "I know! It's exciting, isn't it?"

"Daddy, what does snow feel like?"

Harm hung is coat up in the closet. "Well, buddy, it's cold…and wet."

"Why?"

Harm began to walk to the kitchen with Max following closely behind. "I don't know for sure." He then picked Max up. "Let's go see Mommy. Maybe she'll let us play in the snow."

"Ah! Play in it?"

"Yeah!"

"Really?!"

"Ssh." Harm brought a finger to his lips, signaling Maxwell to lower his voice. "Let me ask Mommy."

"Hi, hon." Harm said to Mac while he situated Max at the kitchen table.

"Hi!" She smiled brightly. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but you're sure home early."

He walked over to Mac and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Laura told me she'd rearrange my schedule so we can play in the snow with Max."

"Play in the snow?" she asked as she began putting the cookies onto the cooling rack.

"Well, yeah. Maybe even build a snowman."

"I think you two will have fun."

"Well, I was kinda hoping you'd join us."

"Harm, I never built a snowman before."

"Never?"

"Never. Did you even build a snowman before?"

"Yes. AJ, Jimmy and I made one a couple of years ago."

"Did you ever make one before that?"

"Well, no. There isn't much of a chance for kids growing up in La Jolla to build snowmen, but Mom and I did build sandcastles."

"Aww. That's sweet. I never did things like that before," she said with a sad smile.

"Make the memories now, Mac."

"Oh. I don't know. Do you really think Max will want to build a snowman with me? I have no idea what I'm doing."

Harm sighed softly. Mac is a wonderful mother, she loves their son more than anything and she's always been there for him, but Harm sensed that Mac stilled has insecurities about being a mother. This, he reasoned, was completely understandable considering her childhood. "I think," he began as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "Max would love it."

She sank into her husband's embrace. "Really?"

"There's only one way to find out. Hey, Max, how would you like it if Mommy played out in the snow with us?"

Max's eyes lit up and a huge smile played across his face. "Mommy play, too! Peeez!" He clapped his hands together excitedly. "Mommy play, too."

Those words were all that Mac needed to hear. "Okay," she smiled. "Mommy will play, too."

"Yay!"

Mac turned to Harm. "Can you get Max ready while I clean up in here?" she asked.

"Certainly," Harm walked over to Max's booster chair. "We're gonna have lots of fun aren't we, buddy?"

Max laughed and Mac smiled. Life was good.

*** ***

After building a tiny snowman and having a mini-snowball fight it became much too cold to stay outside, and the Rabb family began to go back indoors.

"Did you have fun, buddy?" Harm asked Max as he began to takes off the child's shoes and gloves.

"Yes! Me like snow! I want it to snow aaaalllll the time."

Harm and Mac laughed. "I bet you do," Mac said with a smile.

Harm picked Max up. "Okay, let's take you upstairs in get you into some warm pajamas."

"While you two go do that, I'll start a fire in the fireplace and make some hot chocolate," Mac stated.

Harm reached over and whispered in his wife's ear, "You sure do know how to set the mood, huh?"

Mac grinned. "I plead the fifth, Captain."

Harm chuckled. "I happen to know a very good Navy JAG attorney who will help you with that."

"I'm sure you do." She winked.

"Alright, let's go upstairs Max. Then, we'll come back down here and you can sit with Daddy and Mommy for a little bit before you go to bed."

"Mm-hm," Max said, already trying to fight the sleep.

When Harm and Max went upstairs, Mac walked over to the fireplace. She stopped for a moment and looked at the family picture sitting on the mantle. It might have taken her and Harm a long time and a whole lot of heartache to get to this moment, but everything was worth it. They're married, they beat the odds and had baby---Mac smiled unconsciously, she could hardly wait for Maxwell to go to bed so she could tell Harm that they beat the odds again.

Yes, she thought, life was definitely perfect.


End file.
